Kiss of the Abyss

Chapter 2: The Pressure from the Depths of the Rift

The walls of the sealing chamber were carved with silver-white runes, their faint light flickering in the darkness. Su Ziyan leaned against the cold stone wall, the Luoshui Silver Chain binding her wrists, its ends fastened to floor anchors.

She didn't know how long she had been locked in here—the sealing chamber had no windows, only a single magic core overhead casting a sickly white glow. The blonde woman, Elith, had brought water and bread once, yesterday, and no one had come since.

Silence gripped her throat like an invisible hand.

She closed her eyes and tried to summon the Order Force within her. But the moment her sealing mark touched the edge of that energy, a searing pain shot through her—Lucas had been right: the Luoshui Silver Chain could indeed suppress all power.

Just then, the ground began to tremble.

It wasn't her imagination. The massive silver mirror at the center of the sealing chamber started to c***k. Fractures spread like a spiderweb, accompanied by sharp, splintering sounds. Su Ziyan's eyes flew open. Deep purple mist was seeping from the mirror's surface—Chaos energy, so dense it was nearly solid.

"No—"

She shrank back instinctively, but the chains limited her movement. The cracks spread faster than she could have imagined. The runes throughout the chamber began to flicker violently; several of them burst into fragments.

The door was kicked open.

Lucas rushed in, followed by Elith. He wore a long black coat, and his entire presence radiated an energycompletely different from the night before—anger, and… tension?

"Did she open the seal?" Elith demanded sharply.

"How is that possible?" Lucas strode to the mirror and pressed his palm against the edge of the c***k. Deep purple energy surged from his hand, trying to push the fracture back together. But instead of shrinking, the c***k continued to widen as his power fed into it.

"No," he said, his voice low. "I didn't open this. The entire sealing system is collapsing."

Before he finished speaking, a shockwave erupted from the c***k.

Su Ziyan felt as if she'd been struck by a massive hammer. Her body flew uncontrollably and slammed hard against the wall. The chains yanked at her wrists; her bones creaked. She bit her lip to keep from crying out—but tears welled up in her eyes regardless.

"The chamber is coming down!" Elith shouted. "Your Highness, we need to leave—"

"Take her." Lucas cut her off, his hand still pressed to the c***k. "There's a small fissure in the southwest corner—stillcontrollable. Clear the sealing array patterns."

"Yes."

Elith yanked Su Ziyan's chain, dragging her as roughly as a sack of grain. Su Ziyan stumbled after her, her wrists raw with pain. The corridor outside the sealing chamber was also shaking. Runes on the walls kept exploding, and flying shards grazed her cheek, leaving a bloody scratch.

The southwest room was much smaller than the sealing chamber—only a three-meter-square silver sealing array. At its center was a c***k the size of a palm. Black mist continuously seeped from the c***k's edges, corroding the surrounding runes.

"Your Highness!" Elith called out.

Lucas followed seconds later, his right hand still dripping blood—some fragment had cut his arm in the shockwave. He glanced at the sealing array, then at Su Ziyan.

"Release her chains."

"What?" Elith whipped her head around. "Your Highness—"

"I said release them."

Elith clenched her jaw but pulled out the key and unlocked the Luoshui Silver Chain from Su Ziyan's wrists. As the chain hit the floor, Su Ziyan felt the enormous weight pressing on her chest suddenly lift. Her sealing mark grew slightly warm. The Order Force she had suppressed all day began to flow slowly again.

"Come here." Lucas reached out his hand.

Su Ziyan didn't move.

"There's no time for hesitation," Lucas said urgently. "The palace's sealing system is collapsing. If this small c***k fully opens, half the city will become Abyss territory. Order Force can slow the spread of Chaos energy."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Lucas stared at her, his expression changing—no longer the condescending calm of last night, but something almost desperate. "Because you are also sealed. Your Order Force and the Chaos Force inside me come from the same source. Suppressing it isn't the answer—using it is."

"What do I need to do?" Su Ziyan asked coldly.

"Hold my hand. Channel your Order Force into the sealing array. I'll use Chaos Force to counterbalance from the other side. When the two forces merge inside the c***k, they can temporarily slow its expansion."

Su Ziyan stared at his outstretched hand—prominent knuckles, fingertips still stained with blood. Barely an hour ago, she had wanted to kill him. And now she was supposed to hold his hand?

"I don't have time to fight you," Lucas said, his voice dropping. "Your life is on the line too."

The black mist seeping from the c***k grew thicker, filling the air with a pungent, sulfurous smell. Su Ziyan felt her sealing mark begin to heat up—not a burning pain, but a strange resonance, as if something deep inside the c***k was calling to her.

She didn't want to die.

Not yet. Not before she found out what Mentor James had been hiding.

Su Ziyan took a deep breath, reached out, and touched her fingertips to his palm.

His hand was a size larger than hers, cooler than a normal person's. Fortunately, she was also trained and naturally ran cold—at least she wouldn't be burned. The moment their palms clasped, Su Ziyan felt an unfamiliar energy travel through his fingertips—chaotic,Furious, like a beast that had been caged too long and was now roaring.

"Release your Order Force," he said quietly. "Don't resist. Let it flow naturally."

Su Ziyan closed her eyes and summoned the dormant Order Force within her. A silver-white glow emerged from her palm, traveling through their point of contact into his body. Lucas simultaneously unleashed his Chaos Force. Deep purple energy poured from his other hand into the sealing array.

The moment the two forces met inside the c***k—the world went silent.

The c***k stopped spreading. The black mist that had been seeping out was pushed back. The sealing array lit up again with silver-white light and began repairing its broken runes. The ground in the sealing chamber stopped shaking.

Su Ziyan exhaled in relief and was about to let go—

A sharp sting shot through her sealing mark, as if countless needles were boring into her bones. A wave of heat spread from her chest through her entire body. Vivid hallucinations appeared before her eyes: blazing flames, collapsing palaces, and a pair of arms holding a cold, lifeless body.

A voice whispered in her ear: "Borrowed power always demands a price."

Su Ziyan ripped her hand back, gasping for breath. Cold sweat soaked the back of her clothes. Tears filled her eyes again.

"You…" Lucas looked at her, his voice hoarse. "What did you just see?"

Su Ziyan didn't answer. She lifted her head and looked at the hand he had withdrawn—on the inside of his wrist, near his pulse, was a three-inch-long scar.

Curved like a half-arc, shallower at both ends, sunken in the middle. As if something had cut deep into it.

Su Ziyan's pupils contracted sharply.

She recognized that scar.

Six years ago, she was seventeen. The Abyss Lord's army had ambushed and slaughtered a civilian caravan. As a trainee of the Order Shield, she was sent to clear the battlefield. Beneath a mountain of corpses, she found a dying boy—black hair, gray-blue eyes, and a deep gash on his wrist, bleeding profusely.

She had used aHemostasis Talisman to bandage him. When the boy woke up, he stared at her blankly and asked, "Why did you save me?"

She answered: "Because I can't stand by and watch someone die."

Then Order Shield's people arrived and took the boy away, saying they needed to "verify his identity." She asked about him afterward, but no one knew where the boy had gone.

And now—

Lucas looked down at the scar on his own wrist. His gaze darkened. He didn't speak. Slowly, he pulled his sleeve down to cover it.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Elith burst in, her face pale with alarm. "Your Highness—the outer watchtowers report that the Order Shield has assembled three legions and crossed the Shadow Plains border. The vanguard is less than twenty miles from the palace."

Su Ziyan's heart jolted violently.

"Three legions?" Lucas frowned. "When did they come?"

"Last night." Elith glanced at Su Ziyan, her expression complex. "From the moment she was captured and brought into the palace, they began mobilizing."

Su Ziyan's mind flashed to Mentor James's gentle face. He had said, "Everything is under my control." He had said, "You just need to come back alive."

But he hadn't given her an escape plan. Nor had he told her that once she failed, the Order Shield would immediately send in its army.

Not to rescue her.

To silence her.

"Your organization isn't coming to save you," Lucas said beside her. "They're coming to eliminate the witness."

Su Ziyan clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms.

"Prepare for battle." Lucas turned and walked toward the door. Elith followed close behind.

As he passed Su Ziyan, Lucas paused for a moment. He turned his head slightly and lowered his voice. "Don't think about running. Those people outside won't listen to your explanations."

He left.

Su Ziyan was alone in the sealing chamber. She knew Lucas was telling the truth—she knew better than anyone what the Order Shield did to traitors. Every assassin abandoned after a failed mission had only one ending in the Order Shield's dictionary: execution.

But why her?

She was the Order Shield's finest assassin. She followed every rule. She trusted Mentor James like a father.

Su Ziyan looked down at the inside of her own wrist—there was a scar there, identical to Lucas's.

Her vision blurred.